Lesley Manville on her saucy new role and stripping off at 60

The list of well-known actresses who loudly lament the drying up of offers, once they reach mid-life, is long. But 60-year-old Lesley Manville’s trajectory is heading in the opposite direction.

Highly-rated by her peers for decades – she has worked extensively with Mike Leigh on film and on stage - yet never quite a household name, she has become a late bloomer, landing ever more prominent roles.

There was her BAFTA-nominated turn as the fragile but effective DCI Chrissie Read in the acclaimed BBC detective drama, River. Then this month sees her starring alongside Samantha Morton and Downton’s Jessica Brown Findlay as a high-class madam, all powdered face, elaborate wigs and plunging necklines, in ITV’s new raunchy Georgian romp, Harlots. And next up, she is playing opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in his return to the screen after a five-year absence.